Method and apparatus of supporting wireless femtocell communications

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus of routing a call in a femtocell network are disclosed. In one example call routing method, a call is originated from the mobile station via a femtocell access point and the call is transmitted to a femtocell gateway, a mobile switching center and a carrier gateway server and onto an enterprise gateway server to obtain policy information. A routing policy is determined based on the obtained policy information and the call is routed to its destination based on the routing policy. The call may be routed via local media from a femtocell access point directly to the enterprise gateway server. The call routing procedures may implement the Iuh protocol and/or the session initiation protocol (SIP) for call signaling in the femtocell network. Call routing may be performed in a wireless cellular communications network or an enterprise network environment.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus of supporting variousnetwork communications in a femtocell network environment, and, morespecifically, to supporting calls, data transfers and othercommunication signaling initiated by a mobile station or othercommunication device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cellular systems are widely deployed by wireless carriers over a widegeographic area. Various techniques are used for covering hard-to-reachplaces, for example, repeats, cell-splits etc. These techniques areoften unable to provide sufficient coverage to local communicationdevices.

Femtocells may be deployed to provide licensed spectrum cellular systemswithin tightly constrained geographic areas. Femtocells normally cover aspace as small as a room within a building, a small home and/or abusiness location. Femtocells are typically designed to provide serviceareas of 100-1000 square meters, while macrocells normally cover areason the order of 10-100 square kilometers, and microcells cover 1-10square kilometers, and picocells cover 10,000-100,000 square meters.

Licensed-spectrum femtocells are usually designed to utilize a similarair-interface as an external macro-cell network so that the vastmajority of devices can be used without any change. Femtocells operateaccording to a typical base-station-to-handset infrastructure.

Femtocell network deployments are not significantly structured orpreplanned. Rather, these networks often comprise a plurality of ad-hocfemtocell deployments. The simple femtocell configuration allows thefemtocell networks to adapt to meet the requirements of many differentdeployment environments. For example, some networks might scale to onemillion femtocells, any of which might enter or leave the network at anytime.

In some networks, a femtocell network operator, such as, a businessowner, might operate an entire network of femtocells for a selectedgroup. For example, an office building might deploy a femtocell networkto provide mobile telephone access to the employees. In theseenvironments, many businesses might desire to forgo the use of typicallandline phones or VOIP phones in favor of a mobile Internet businesstelephone network that allows their employees to use their mobiledevices as replacements for expensive phone lines and Internet services.However, to replace a landline or VOIP system, a private branch exchange(PBX) that provides support for VOIP and/or landline PBXs is typicallydesired. However, because of the dynamic nature of a femtocell networkit is challenging to integrate different network communicationinfrastructures, such as, VOIP communications, PBX communications,mobile station to landline and vice-versa, etc. Specific signaling andprocedural guidelines must be adhered to when integrating communicationsystems with femtocells.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention may include a method of placinga call from a desktop phone to a mobile station. The method may includereceiving an incoming call at a private branch exchange (PBX), theincoming call destined for a PBX desktop phone or associated mobilestation, transmitting the call to an enterprise gateway server,determining a routing number and location of the mobile station anddetermining that the routing number and location information correspondto a cell site associated with a femtocell.

Another example embodiment may include routing a call from a mobilestation. The method may include originating a call from the mobilestation that is connected to a femtocell, forwarding the call to amobile switching center (MSC), transmitting an origination trigger fromthe MSC, selecting a corresponding enterprise gateway server in whichthe mobile station has a policy subscription and sending a request tothe enterprise gateway server for policy information that is requiredfor processing the call.

Another example method may include routing a call from a mobile station.The method may further include originating a call from the mobilestation operating in an enterprise network of a femtocell, transmittingan invite message to a femtocell gateway operating in a wirelesscommunications network different from the enterprise network,transmitting an origination trigger from the femtocell gateway,selecting a corresponding enterprise gateway server in which the mobilestation has a policy subscription and sending a request to theenterprise gateway server for policy information that is required forprocessing the call.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network configuration overview, accordingto example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example network configuration performing alocation update, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example network configuration that performs mobileorigination via the enterprise network, according to example embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example network configuration that performs mobileorigination via a direct route, according to example embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a desktop termination example network configuration,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a mobile termination network configuration, accordingto example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates a location update network configuration, according toexample embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates mobile origination route via the enterprise networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile origination route direct example networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a desktop termination network configuration,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example location update network configuration,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a mobile origination route via the enterprisenetwork configuration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 illustrates a mobile origination direct route networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 illustrates a desktop termination network configuration,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example mobile termination network configuration,according to example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a handout procedure network configuration, accordingto example embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example method according to example embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 18 illustrates another example method according to exampleembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates yet another example method according to exampleembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example network entity, receiver and/ortransmitter configured to store software instructions and performexample operations disclosed throughout the specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentinvention, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein,may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following detailed description of theembodiments of a method, apparatus, and system, as represented in theattached figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention asclaimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of theinvention.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention describedthroughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. For example, the usage of the phrases “exampleembodiments”, “some embodiments”, or other similar language, throughoutthis specification refers to the fact that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentmay be included in at least one embodiment of the present invention.Thus, appearances of the phrases “example embodiments”, “in someembodiments”, “in other embodiments”, or other similar language,throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the samegroup of embodiments, and the described features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

In addition, while the term “message” has been used in the descriptionof embodiments of the present invention, the invention may be applied tomany types of network data, such as packet, frame, datagram, etc. Forpurposes of this invention, the term “message” also includes packet,frame, datagram, and any equivalents thereof. Furthermore, while certaintypes of messages and signaling are depicted in exemplary embodiments ofthe invention, the invention is not limited to a certain type ofmessage, and the invention is not limited to a certain type ofsignaling.

Data network communications provide users with access to various meansof communications (e.g., Internet, voice, data, etc.). The capability tosupport femtocells in an enterprise networking environment provideswireless coverage for users working in buildings. If femtocells arefurther enhanced to support the local media routing of calls, such aconfiguration can benefit the enterprise and the carrier (i.e., serviceprovider, network operator, etc.) by limiting the amount of traffic thatis routed between the enterprise (home, business, etc.) and the wirelesscore network (mobile provider network).

Such a network configuration is particularly useful for calls betweentwo mobile stations connected to a femtocell, or when a mobile stationconnected to the femtocell is participating in a call with a destinationthat would ultimately be routed into the enterprise network via thecarrier network. For example, a mobile station call to a private branchexchange—unified communications (PBX/UC) extension, or, a mobile call toan international destination that would be routed through the enterprisePBX or unified communications (UC) system).

Local media routing may include utilizing local IP access capabilitiesof the PBX/UC to route information within the enterprise domain. Otherexamples of local media routing may include leveraging theauthentication capabilities of the wireless network to provideauthorized access to a femtocell enterprise gateway located in theenterprise domain. Closed user groups (CUG), as defined by the 3GPPstandard, may be used to identify groups of users that are eligible forlocal PBX/UC access. Another example of leveraging the authenticationcapabilities of a wireless network may include, leveraging existingmobile phones currently supported on a macrocellular network (i.e., nospecialized mobile phone is required to keep media local).

As described in detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, the following figures illustrate networks and communicationinfrastructures that support methods of connecting a cellular phone ormobile station operating on a public mobile (wireless) network to anenterprise network.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example overview network, according to exampleembodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the wirelessnetwork 110 may include a carrier gateway server 114 that providescellular telecommunication services to cellular phones, such as, mobilestation 102. The wireless network 110 may also include a mobileswitching center 112, a home location register 113 and other cellularcomponents. The wireless network may also include a femtocell accesspoint 103, which can also be denoted as a Home Node B specifically inthe case of 3GPP, that integrates the femtocell communications betweenthe mobile station networking components. The enterprise network mayinclude the mobile station 102, which is connected to the wirelessnetwork, and which also communicates through the femtocell access point103. The PBX or unified communications (UC) platform 104 is also aninherent part of most enterprise networks to provide support to landlinetelephones, internet telephony clients, and other local communicationdevices.

The enterprise gateway server 105 in the enterprise network 101 may becoupled with the carrier gateway server 114 via a communications linkwhich may utilize a communications protocol such as session initiationprotocol (SIP). The enterprise gateway server 105 may be considered a“femtocell gateway” or “enterprise femtocell gateway” or “femtocellenterprise gateway.”

FIG. 2 illustrates an example location update procedure networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 2, a mobile station 102 enters an area offemtocell coverage. The mobile station 102 attempts to register andsubsequently update its location in the mobile network. The mobilestation 102 sends a location update request to the femtocell accesspoint 103 which sends the location update request to the femtocellgateway 111 which sends the location update request to the MSC 112 whichupdates the location information in the HLR 113, and responds back toconfirm the location update to the MSC 112, to the femtocell gateway 111to the femtocell access point 103 which then updates the enterprisegateway server 105 with the location information. FIG. 3 illustrates anexample mobile origination route through the enterprise network,according to example embodiments of the present invention. According toFIG. 3, when the mobile station 102 is operating within the femtocell ofthe enterprise domain and originates a call, the policy decision may beto route the call locally within the enterprise network 101. Theprocedure for routing the call may include either recognizing thesubscriber as part of the closed subscriber group (CSG) for theenterprise, or, when the femtocell is configured to allow any subscriberto utilize the femtocell, then sending the call to the enterprisegateway server 105. Such a configuration may include a SIP interfacebetween the femtocell access point 103 and the enterprise gateway server105.

Continuing with the mobile call origination procedure of the mobilestation 102, the enterprise gateway server 105 may perform a lookupoperation to determine a policy, validate the call conditions anddetermines if the call should be routed over the enterprise network 101to its endpoint destination, or allow the call to be routed via a macronetwork. The decision as to how to route the call may depend on variousfactors, for example, the destination of the call, the time of day, thecosts of routing, utilization of the PBX/UC features, etc.

In the case where the decision is to route the call to the PBX/UC 104,the enterprise gateway server 105 transmits the call to the PBX/UC 104as if the call is coming from the user's personal desk phone. The callremains local, no resources are impacted in the mobile core network. Theenterprise gateway server 105 holds billing records for the call whichcan be provided to the MSC 112 or other billing systems if required.Voice call continuity (VCC) methods for handing-off the enterprisefemtocell call to the macrocellular network can be utilized if themobile station 102 needs to handoff to/from the cellular network. Theenterprise gateway server 105 and/or the carrier gateway server 114 canbe utilized to facilitate the VCC handover.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example mobile origination direct route networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 4, mobile origination that is directlyrouted from the femtocell may include a procedure that supports a mobilestation 102 utilizing a femtocell within an enterprise domain 101. Inthis example, the decision is made to route the call within the wirelessnetwork 110. This call routing procedure may include the femtocelleither recognizing the subscriber 102 as part of the closed subscribergroup (CSG) for the enterprise, or the femtocell is set to allow anysubscriber to utilize the femtocell. The call is sent to the enterprisegateway server 105.

Continuing with FIG. 4, the enterprise gateway server 105 performs apolicy look-up operation, validates the call conditions and determinesif this call should be routed over the enterprise network to itsendpoint, or if the call should be routed through the macronetwork. Thisdecision may depend on various factors, for example, the destination ofthe call, time of day, costs of routing, utilization of PBX/UC 104features, etc.

The enterprise gateway server 105 may then decide to route the calldirectly via the wireless network, and will inform the femtocell toproceed with routing the call as such. In the response from theenterprise gateway server 105 to the femtocell access point 103, theenterprise gateway server 105 may include the originally dialeddestination or it may provide a modified destination including a shortcode provided as originally dialed digits, which may be converted to afully qualified routable number. It is also possible that the enterprisegateway server 105 does not perform any modifications at this stage, andmay commence changes after triggering is performed.

The femtocell access point 103 then routes the call to the femtocellgateway 111 which routes the call to the MSC 112 which may then send atrigger message to the carrier gateway server 114 which may thencommunicate with the enterprise gateway server 105, which responds tothe carrier gateway server 114 that the call is intended to be routeddirectly via the carrier network and that call policy has already beeninvoked. It is also possible that the enterprise gateway server 105 maymodify the destination by converting a short code provided as originallydialed digits to a fully qualified routable number. The carrier gatewayserver 114 responds to the MSC 112 with the indication to continue thecall if no changes were made by the enterprise gateway server 105, or toroute to the modified destination if the destination was changed.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example desk top termination procedure networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 5, a network configuration is illustratedthat supports a procedure for maintaining medial local such that carriernetwork resources are not impacted. An incoming call from PSTN 200 isrouted to the PBX 104 which extends a simultaneous ring “simring” leg tothe mobile station 102 when the user's desk phone 205 is dialed. Exampleoperations for this particular configuration may include enterprisegateway server 105 receiving a “simring” leg from the PBX/UC 104.

The enterprise gateway server 105 may already be aware that mobilestation 102 is located on femtocell access point 103 from the previouslocation update procedure, or, alternatively the enterprise gatewayserver 105 may request location information from the carrier gatewayserver 114, which can perform an AnytimeInterrogation (ATI) procedure inthe wireless network 110 to determine if the mobile station 102 iscurrently located on the femtocell.

If the mobile station 102 is located on the femtocell, enterprisegateway server 105 routes the call to the femtocell for deliverydirectly to the mobile station 102, while maintaining the media in theenterprise network. If the mobile station 102 is no longer within thefemtocell coverage area, the femtocell will notify the enterprisegateway server 105, and the enterprise gateway server 105 will route thecall to the carrier gateway server 114 and to the MSC 112. Subsequently,a media bearer path may be established between PBX 104 and MSC 112either directly or via the enterprise gateway server 105 and through thePSTN 200 or other transport network.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example mobile termination procedure networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 6, a network configuration is illustratedthat outlines how the media may be handled when the call is delivered tothe mobile number. This call procedure may include an inbound call thatis received for the mobile station 102 at the MSC 112, which may be agateway mobile switching center (GMSC). The incoming call may bedelivered through the PSTN 200. The carrier gateway server 114 receivesa termination trigger from the MSC 112, and sends a request for policyto the enterprise gateway server 105 with the call information from thetrigger event. Using this call information, the enterprise gatewayserver 105 assesses if the mobile station 102 is operating on thefemtocell network and determines the routing policy, which is returnedto the carrier gateway server 114 and onto the MSC 112 for routing ofthe call. This may include a pilot number to route the call from MSC 112to the PBX 104.

Continuing with FIG. 6, if the mobile station 102 is registered on thefemtocell, then the enterprise gateway server 105 returns a pilot numberto the carrier gateway server 114 and the MSC 112 which routes the callto the pilot number destined for PBX 104. The call is then routed fromPBX 104 to the enterprise gateway server 105 which routes the call tothe femtocell access point 103 to provide local media routing. If themobile station 102 is no longer within the femtocell coverage area, thenthe femtocell will notify the enterprise gateway server 105 and theenterprise gateway server 105 will route the call via the MSC 112 forcall handling.

Certain alternative procedures for the call processing operationsdescribed so far may also include additional operations. For example,when utilizing an open and unrestricted femtocell that allows any mobilestation to utilize the femtocell, and the femtocell utilizes thelocation update procedures as previously defined, then the enterprisefemtocell gateway server 105 can enable the enterprise to control themembers of the closed user group, which may be defined in the enterprisevia the PBX 104, or, through the enterprise-controlled femtocell gatewayserver 105, or, instead, through a closed subscriber group that isallowed to use the femtocell.

In this example, the wireless network 110 does not need not be concernedwith the definition or the provisioning of the CSGs for each enterprisein order to restrict its use only to users of that enterprise. Inaddition, this example involves providing the location updateinformation from the femtocell to the enterprise gateway server 105prior to sending the location information to the wireless network 110.If the enterprise gateway server 105 determines that the user is not amember of the CUG (i.e. they are not allowed to use the femtocell), thenthe enterprise gateway server 105 will prevent the wireless network 110from receiving this location update, and the mobile station 102 willremain on the macronetwork.

An alternative to utilizing location updates from the femtocell accesspoint 103 to the enterprise femtocell gateway server 105 is to insteadhave the enterprise gateway server 105 order the carrier gateway server114 to perform an anytime interrogation (ATI) procedure in the wirelessnetwork. This operation will identify if the mobile station 102 iscurrently on the femtocell network and report back to the enterprisegateway server 105.

All of the above examples described with reference to FIGS. 1-6 mayimplement the Iuh protocol and/or the Iuh protocol stack, which supportsthe interface between a Home Node_B or femtocell access point and a HomeNode_B femtocell gateway. These protocols are part of the 3GPP femtocellstandards. Iuh reuses standard protocols from the 3GPP-defined UMTSstandards, such as, RANAP and GTP-u while introducing some otherprotocols to meet the specific requirements of 3G femtocell deployments.FIGS. 7-11, which also illustrate example embodiments of the presentinvention, may implement an optimized set of Iuh protocol call flows.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a location update procedure networkconfiguration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 7, a location update procedure may includea call flow that begins with the mobile station 102 initiating the callflow operation by sending a message to the femtocell access point 103,which, in turn, communicates with the femtocell gateway 111 of thewireless network 110. The MSC 112 is notified of the location update ofthe mobile station 102 and the location information is stored in thehome location register (HLR) 113.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a mobile origination enterprise routedcall procedure network configuration, according to example embodimentsof the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, a call is originated atthe mobile station 102 and is sent to the femtocell access point 103,which forwards the call origination over a secure link to the femtocellgateway 111. The call is sent to the MSC 112 and an origination(INITDP2) trigger is sent to the carrier gateway server 114.

Next, the carrier gateway server 114 informs associated enterprisegateway server 105 of the mobile subscriber 112 of the call and triggerinformation such that the enterprise gateway server 105 can perform apolicy decision procedure. The enterprise gateway server 105 contactsthe femtocell gateway 111 to obtain the routing information for thefemtocell access point 103. Based on the returned routing information,the enterprise gateway server 105 determines if it is able tocommunicate with the femtocell access point 103. If the enterprisegateway server 105 can communicate with the femtocell access point, theenterprise gateway server 105 may determine it may be advantageous toroute the call using local media directly into the enterprise via thefemtocell access point 103. The enterprise gateway server 105 contactsthe femtocell gateway 111 to provide the routing information of theenterprise gateway server 105 including its IP address for the femtocellaccess point 103 to route to the enterprise gateway server 105, and toindicate to the femtocell gateway 111 that when it will receive anupcoming disconnection message from the MSC 112 that the femtocellgateway 111 should not disconnect the call for this user, but insteadshould order the femtocell access point 103 to redirect the call to theenterprise gateway server 105 on the network premises.

The enterprise gateway server 105 then responds to the carrier gatewayserver 114 with an order to disconnect the call, after which the carriergateway server 114 will send a disconnect command to the serving MSC 112which will send a disconnect command to the femtocell gateway 111. Thefemtocell gateway 111, having been provided the IP address of theenterprise gateway server 105 will send a redirect message, in responseto the original invite, notifying the femtocell access point 103 tocontact the enterprise gateway server 105 for call handling. Thefemtocell gateway 105 may then either release itself from the call, ormaintain the call status until it should receive subsequentdisconnection information from the enterprise gateway server 105 or ahandout procedure occurs.

The femtocell access point 103, after being redirected, sends the inviteto the enterprise gateway server 105 to set up the call and theenterprise gateway server 105 executes any policies and performs anytranslation/prefixing required and then sends the call invite to the PBX104 to set up the call.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a mobile origination direct routed callprocedure network configuration where the call is not routed into theenterprise, according to example embodiments of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 9, the mobile station 102 originates a call using thefemtocell access point 103 and the femtocell access point 103 sends thecall over a secure link to the femtocell gateway 111. The femtocellgateway 111 sends the call to the MSC 112, which sends an origination(INITDP2) trigger to the carrier gateway server 114. The carrier gatewayserver 114 then selects the correct enterprise gateway server 105 andsends a request to the enterprise gateway server 105 for the policy thatshould be applied to this call.

The enterprise gateway server 105 applies one or more policies to thecall, and determines the call is supposed to be routed within thewireless network 110, and local media for this call will not besupported. The enterprise femtocell gateway server 105 indicates to thecarrier gateway server 114 that the policy to be applied to this call isa direct route call policy type. The carrier gateway server 114 thensends a continue message to the serving MSC 112 to continue the call onthe wireless network. The MSC 112 routes the call via a destinationgateway 202 to its final destination.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a desktop termination call procedurenetwork configuration, according to example embodiments of the presentinvention. In this example, a call may arrive at the PBX 104 for adesktop phone 205. In addition to ringing the desktop phone 205, the PBX104 may fork the call into the enterprise gateway server 105, whichcontacts the carrier gateway server 114 to obtain a routing number andlocation for the mobile station 102. The carrier gateway server 114performs a location request by sending a message to the HLR 113 toobtain a routing number and the location of the mobile station 102. TheHLR 113 requests a temporary routing number from the servicing MSC 112,which is returned to the carrier gateway server 114 in response to therouting request. The carrier gateway server 114 returns the routingnumber and the location information to the enterprise gateway server105, which identifies that the location of the call is from a known cellsite that is associated with a femtocell.

The enterprise gateway server 105 may then reference an internal tableto determine if that femtocell is one that is supported by theenterprise network. This allows the enterprise network 101 to decidewhich public and/or private femtocells it may desire to allow itssubscribers to utilize, or may enable the enterprise network 101 tospecifically identify femtocells which cannot be accessed by theenterprise. If the femtocell is supported by the enterprise, theenterprise gateway server 105 sends a request to the femtocell gateway111, which pages the mobile station 102 and returns an IP address to theenterprise gateway server 105 to contact the correct femtocell. Theenterprise gateway server 105 sends an invite to the femtocell accesspoint 103 to connect the mobile station 102 with the enterprise gatewayserver 105 via the femtocell access point 103.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a location update procedureimplementing session initiation protocol (SIP), according to exampleembodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 11, a mobilestation 102 transmits a location update message to the femtocell accesspoint 103 which forwards a corresponding SIP REGISTER message to thefemtocell gateway 111. The femtocell gateway 111 then forwards thelocation update information to the HLR 113.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a mobile origination route through theenterprise implementing session initiation protocol (SIP), according toexample embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 12, amobile station 102 transmits a mobile origination call to the femtocellaccess point 103, which forwards a SIP INVITE message to the femtocellgateway 111. An origination trigger is then forwarded to the carriergateway server 114 which identifies and informs the correspondingenterprise gateway server 105, which performs a policy lookup with theinformation provided by the carrier gateway server 105. The enterprisegateway server 105 determines the mobile is on a femtocell and thepolicy is such that the call should be routed via the enterprisenetwork.

The enterprise gateway server 105 forwards a request for a redirect IPaddress to the femtocell gateway 111, which is returned to theenterprise gateway server 105 which then responds to the carrier gatewayserver 114 with an order to disconnect the call with an indication oflocal media redirection designation. The carrier gateway server 114 thensends a disconnect message with the local media redirection designationto the femtocell gateway 111, which sends a redirection order for thecall to the femtocell access point 103 and then proceeds with thedisconnection procedure in the femtocell gateway 111. The femtocellaccess point 103 then sends an invite message to the enterprise gatewayserver 105 which sends the invite message to the femtocell gateway 111to begin a new session for the existing call on the femtocell accesspoint 103 such that the femtocell gateway 111 will be part of thesignaling path in case a handover procedure is subsequently required.The femtocell gateway 111 responds to the enterprise gateway server 105,which then sends an invite message to the PBX with the desiredoriginating and terminating information to route the call to the finaldestination via the PBX.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a mobile origination direct route callprocedure implementing session initiation protocol (SIP), according toexample embodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 13, amobile station 102 originates a call to a femtocell access point 103,which, in turn forwards a SIP INVITE to the femtocell gateway 111. Thefemtocell gateway 111 sends an origination trigger to the carriergateway server 114, which identifies and informs the correspondingenterprise gateway server 105, and which performs a policy lookup withthe information provided by the carrier gateway server 105. Theenterprise gateway server 105 determines the mobile station 102 is on afemtocell and that the policy is such that the call should be routeddirectly via the carrier network. The enterprise gateway server 105responds to the carrier gateway server 114 with an order to proceed withrouting the call in the carrier network. A continue message is sent tothe femtocell gateway 111 from the carrier gateway server 114, whichsends a SIP INVITE to the destination gateway 202, and the destinationgateway 202 forwards the SIP INVITE to the final destination.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a desktop termination procedureimplementing session initiation protocol (SIP), according to exampleembodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 14, a call isreceived at the PBX 104 from an outside source with an intendedrecipient of the desktop phone 205. The call is forked to the desktopphone 205 and the enterprise gateway server 105, which performs arouting number lookup by contacting the carrier gateway server 114. Alocation request may be performed by requesting location informationfrom the HLR 113, which requests a temporary routing number from thefemtocell gateway 111.

The routing number and location information are returned to the carriergateway server 114 and to the enterprise gateway server 105, which usesthe information to determine the mobile station 102 is located on thefemtocell access point 103. The enterprise femtocell gateway 105 sendsrequest to the femtocell gateway 111 for the specific femtocellidentification of femtocell access point 103, which is returned to theenterprise gateway server 105. The enterprise gateway server 105 thensends an invite message to the femtocell gateway 111 to initiate a calltermination destined for the mobile on femtocell access point 103. Thefemtocell gateway 111 then sends an invite to the enterprise gatewayserver 105 such that the femtocell gateway 111 will be part of thesignaling path in case that a handover procedure is subsequentlyrequired. The enterprise gateway server 105 then sends an invite messageto the femtocell access point 103 and the mobile station 102 is pagedand/or called by the femtocell access point 103 to provide the mobilestation 102 with call communications.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a mobile termination procedureimplementing session initiation protocol (SIP), according to exampleembodiments of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 15, a call tothe mobile station 102 is received at the GMSC 115, which sends atermination trigger to the carrier gateway server 114 forming aconnection between the GMSC 115 and the carrier gateway server 114. Amobile policy check is performed by communicating between the carriergateway server 114 and the enterprise gateway server 105. The enterprisegateway server 105 responds to the carrier gateway server 114 with anorder to the GMSC 115 to route a pilot number to the PBX 104. The GMSC115 sends an invite to the carrier destination gateway 202, which routesto the PBX 104. On reception of the invite to the pilot number, the PBX104 forks the call between the enterprise gateway server 105 and thedesktop phone 205. The enterprise gateway server 105 then sends arequest to route the call to the carrier gateway server 114 which sendsthe request to the HLR 113 which requests a temporary routing numberfrom the femtocell gateway 111 where the mobile station 102 is located.The temporary routing number is returned to the HLR 113 which isreturned to the carrier gateway server 114 which is returned to theenterprise gateway server 105.

The enterprise gateway server 105 uses the information to determine themobile is located on a femtocell access point 103. The enterprisefemtocell gateway 105 sends request to the femtocell gateway 111 for thespecific femtocell identification of femtocell access point 103, whichis returned to the enterprise gateway server 105. The enterprise gatewayserver 105 then sends an invite message to the femtocell gateway 111 toinitiate a call termination destined for the mobile station 102 onfemtocell access point 103. The femtocell gateway 111 then sends aninvite to the enterprise gateway server 105 such that the femtocellgateway 111 will be part of the signaling path in case a handoverprocedure is subsequently required. The enterprise gateway server 105then sends an invite message to the femtocell access point 103 and themobile station 102 is paged and/or called by the femtocell access point103 to provide the mobile station 102 with call communications.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a handout procedure implementingsession initiation protocol (SIP), according to example embodiments ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 16, three types of signalingare illustrated, the solid line represents the signaling communicationpaths between network elements before the handout event is performed,the dashed line represents the media bearer communications before thehandout event is performed, and the dotted line represents the mediabearer communications after the handout event is performed.

Beginning with the signaling, prior to the handout event, a call hasbeen established such that media bearer communications are in progressbetween mobile station 102, femtocell access point 103, enterprisegateway server 105, PBX 104 and desktop phone 205. The mobile station102 and femtocell access point 103 determine a handout procedure musttake place as mobile station 102 begins to move out of radio coverageprovided by femtocell access point 103 and into radio coverage providedby macro radio network 106.

Mobile station 102 initiates a handoff operation to the femtocell accesspoint 103 which forwards the handoff to the femtocell gateway 111 whichsends a request for an inter-MSC handoff to MSC 112 to which macro radionetwork 106 is connected. MSC 112 routing number back to the femtocellgateway 111 for the handoff procedure. An invite is sent by femtocellgateway 111 to the destination gateway 202 to connect the destinationgateway 202 with MSC 112 via the routing number provided by MSC 112.Femtocell gateway 111 sends a re-invite to order enterprise gateway 105to re-route the media bearer communication between the enterprisegateway server 105 and the femtocell access point 103 to destinationgateway 202. As such, the media bearer path is transferred from desktopphone 205 to PBX 104 to enterprise gateway server 105 to destinationgateway 202 to MSC 112 to macro radio network 106 to mobile station 102.Once the media bearer communication has been transferred to the newcommunication path after handout, the bearer path before handout frommobile station 102 to femtocell access point 103 to enterprise gatewayserver 105 is released.

The operations of a method or algorithm described in connection with theembodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in acomputer program executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. A computer program may be embodied on a computer readable medium,such as a storage medium. For example, a computer program may reside inrandom access memory (“RAM”), flash memory, read-only memory (“ROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a compact disk read-only memory (“CD-ROM”), or any otherform of storage medium known in the art.

An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such thatthe processor may read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anapplication specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”). In the alternative,the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components.For example, FIG. 20 illustrates an example network element 2000, whichmay represent any of the above-described network components 102, 103,104, 105, 106, 112, 113, 114, 115, 201, 202 and 203.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, a memory 2010 and a processor 2020 may bediscrete components of the network entity 2000 that are used to executean application or set of operations. The application may be coded insoftware in a computer language understood by the processor 2020, andstored in a computer readable medium, such as, the memory 2010. Thecomputer readable medium may be a non-transitory computer readablemedium that includes tangible hardware components in addition tosoftware stored in memory. Furthermore, a software module 2030 may beanother discrete entity that is part of the network entity 2000, andwhich contains software instructions that may be executed by theprocessor 2020. In addition to the above noted components of the networkentity 2000, the network entity 2000 may also have a transmitter andreceiver pair configured to receive and transmit communication signals(not shown).

One example method of a call from a desktop phone to a mobile station isillustrated in FIG. 17. The method may include receiving a desktop phoneoriginated call at a private branch exchange (PBX), the originated callbeing destined being the mobile station, at operation 1701. The methodmay also include transmitting the call to an enterprise gateway server,at operation 1702, and determining a routing number and location of themobile station, at operation 1703. The method may also includedetermining that the routing number and location information correspondto a known cell site associated with a femtocell, at operation 1704.

Another example method of routing a call from a mobile station isillustrated in FIG. 18. The method may include originating a call fromthe mobile station operating on a femtocell access point connected to afemtocell gateway, and forwarding the call to a mobile switching center(MSC), at operation 1801. The method may also include transmitting anorigination trigger from the MSC, at operation 1802, to a carriergateway server that subsequently sends a request to an enterprisegateway server for instructions to route the call at operation 1803. Themethod may further include the enterprise gateway server communicatingwith the femtocell gateway to have the femtocell access point redirectthe call to the enterprise gateway server, at operation 1804. The methodmay further include the enterprise gateway server routing the call ontoa final destination via the PBX at operation 1805.

Another example embodiment of the present invention is illustrated inFIG. 19, which includes a method of routing a call from a mobilestation. The method may include originating a call from the mobilestation operating in an enterprise network of a femtocell, at operation1901. The method may also include transmitting an invite message to afemtocell gateway server operating in a wireless communications networkdifferent from the enterprise network, at operation 1902, andtransmitting an origination trigger from the femtocell gateway server,at operation 1903. Them method may also include selecting acorresponding enterprise femtocell gateway server that is operating inthe same femtocell as the mobile station based on the originationtrigger, at operation 1904, and sending a request to the enterprisefemtocell gateway server for policy information that is required forprocessing the call, at operation 1905.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and the scope of the invention is to be defined solelyby the appended claims when considered with a full range of equivalentsand modifications (e.g., protocols, hardware devices, software platformsetc.) thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a femtocellgateway of a carrier network and from a femtocell access point of anenterprise network, a handoff operation for a call between a firstcommunication device in the enterprise network and a secondcommunication device, the femtocell access point controlling aninitiation of the handoff operation based on a policy received from anenterprise gateway server of the enterprise network; sending, by thefemtocell gateway, an invite message to connect a destination gateway ofthe carrier network to a mobile switching center of the carrier network;and rerouting, by the femtocell gateway, a communication path of thecall from being between the enterprise gateway server and the femtocellaccess point to being between the enterprise gateway server and thedestination server.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy allowsthe handoff.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy denies thehandoff.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the policy denying thehandoff is based on identifying that use of the first communicationdevice is restricted to the enterprise network.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising: querying, by the femtocell access point of theenterprise network, the enterprise gateway server for the policy beforethe initiation of the handoff.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theidentifying that the handoff is required further comprises: identifying,by the femtocell access point, that the first communication device isleaving a coverage area of the femtocell access point and moving into acoverage area of a macro radio network connected to the carrier network.7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by thefemtocell gateway and in response to a request from the femtocell accesspoint, a routing number from a mobile switching center of the carriernetwork.
 8. A femtocell gateway of a carrier network, the femtocellgateway comprising: a processor that when executing instructions storedin a memory is configured to: receive a handoff operation for a callbetween a first communication device in the enterprise network and asecond communication device from a femtocell access point of anenterprise network, the femtocell access point configured to control aninitiation of the handoff operation based on a policy received from anenterprise gateway server of the enterprise network; send an invitemessage to connect a destination gateway of the carrier network to themobile switching center; and reroute a communication path of the callfrom being between the enterprise gateway server and the femtocellaccess point to being between the enterprise gateway server and thedestination server.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the policy allowsthe handoff.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the policy denies thehandoff.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the policy that denies thehandoff further comprises: a policy based on an identification that useof the first communication device is restricted to the enterprisenetwork.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein: the femtocell access pointis configured to query the enterprise gateway server for the policybefore the initiation of the handoff.
 13. The method of claim 8, whereinthe femtocell access point identifies that the first communicationdevice has migrated from a coverage area of the femtocell access pointto a coverage area of a macro radio network connected to the carriernetwork.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein the processor is configuredto: receive a routing number from a mobile switching center of thecarrier network in response to a request from the femtocell gateway. 15.A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions thatwhen executed by a processor of a femtocell gateway of a carrier networkconfigure the processor to perform: receiving, from a femtocell accesspoint of an enterprise network, a handoff operation for a call between afirst communication device in the enterprise network and a secondcommunication device, the femtocell access point controlling aninitiation of the handoff operation based on a policy received from anenterprise gateway server of the enterprise network; sending an invitemessage to connect a destination gateway of the carrier network to themobile switching center; and rerouting a communication path of the callfrom being between the enterprise gateway server and the femtocellaccess point to being between the enterprise gateway server and thedestination server.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the policy allows the handoff.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the policy denies thehandoff.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein the policy that denies the handoff further comprises: a policythat identifies that use of the first communication device is restrictedto the enterprise network.
 19. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the femtocell access point that the firstcommunication device is leaving a coverage area of the femtocell accesspoint and moving into a coverage area of a macro radio network connectedto the carrier network.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the processor is configured to perform: receiving,in response to a request from the femtocell gateway, a routing numberfrom a mobile switching center of the carrier network.